The Spiritual Journey

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Good morning everyone.

Yesterday it was proposed that we will all read the article ‘Travel Light' by Babuji Maharaj. I hope you all read it. No one read it? You read it? Okay.

He puts it very nicely and very simply that when we board a train we can make our own personal journey, as well as the journey of others travelling in the same compartment with us, a comfortable one only if we carry less baggage.

You know in some of the trains in India, especially in deeper parts of India, they'll bring goats into the compartment. They'll bring all kinds of stuff, vegetables for sale, etc., so much with them. For them it is valuable.

And we also do the same on our onward travel towards the destination, God realisation, merger. I think travel itself will not happen. Forget travelling or even starting the journey. In Sahaj Marg we have a very special feature called the yatra. The yatra is also travel. In Sahaj Marg this yatra is all about moving from the heart, which is considered as the first point, and then we move on slowly with Their grace to the final destination, the thirteenth point.

Then the onward journey still continues. It is an infinite journey. When we move from here to Tadipatri and Tadipatri to some other place, Nandyal, and we keep calculating, "Three hours. Oh my God! How am I going to travel in these dusty roads with lot of heat?" and we get tired by the time we reach there. But now we are talking of the infinite journey. Unlike the physical journey, such inner journeys are not full of tiredness, they are full of joy actually. There is a total invertendo when we travel inward.

The proportion to which we lighten ourselves, we let go of our burden of samskaras, where we let go of our fancies, likes and dislikes, our guilt and all kinds of baggage that we carry. We must drop it off, once and for all. And how can it be done? Again the hints are given in that article. Babuji says that when we have so much of baggage and we are embarking on a train journey, what do we do? We give it in the last compartment, where it is booked for our sake; extra baggage is kept there. Valuables we carry in our pockets, that's all. The larger baggage is kept with somebody else; the uncomfortable ones, the bothersome ones.

In Sahaj Marg, once and for all we should give up our burden, surrender it, surrender the burden and free ourselves from this burden. It is only a mental process. All kinds of burden that we carry are only at that level. So it is a mental submission. Of course it has to be done heartfully, with willingness.

If you say, "I have to do it. Oh my God, I have to do it! I can't, I should not," things like that, or "I love ice cream so much, how can I get rid of such a beautiful burden?" There are so many things we like in our lives but once we give this we have to get rid of everything. It does not mean that we lead a dry life. No. We perform our duties as best we can, remaining unattached to whatever we do. We are not going to become sannyasis and forget our married lives, not at all.

But to lead a proper grihastha life, proper in every sense, in which a husband and wife duly deserve their enjoyment, Masters don't forbid us. They don't say, "Don't do this." No, there is nothing of that sort. They don't say, "Don't eat ladoos." Whatever you do, do it in constant remembrance.

Let us see what happens when the burden of a particular character is lightened, a particular type of samskara, or the loads are removed. Just giving you an example, let us say, the load that is fixated or settled on the second point. If They prefer, or if They choose, they can remove it, but they need our cooperation. Then the soul journey will automatically jump to the second point.

It is not that the soul travels there. It is made to move by creating the space there. In the physical world the travel is from one place to another place. We go from place to place. In spirituality, first this station, the next station is prepared, and then we are propelled. It automatically pulls us there. Nobody is pushing from behind.

Like that, the Ultimate, the Lord Himself is waiting for us. Like a big magnet, He is trying to pull us towards Him. But our weight is so much that there is a competition between God and ourselves. We are the only people who are delaying our own travel, our journey.

Look at it from a different perspective: when you have such a journey, let us say that you go beyond liberation, it means what? The train is not coming back now. It is a one way direction; you are not returning back. That is a very blessed situation, where our Masters can take us beyond liberation. Of course it is a very small step in Sahaj Marg. There are many souls seated here who have already made it to that level. But we have to go much, much higher, beyond all that.

When we have this one way ticket, and when we have to say goodbye to our near and dear ones at some point in life, it is best to think that you are going to go off only now, next moment, as per the wisdom of Babuji Maharaj. He said lead your existence, your life in such a way that you are going to die the very next moment.

So when such is the case, everything that I do must be complete. I cannot think of attaining liberation while having done an incomplete job back here. I cannot go to the fifth class unless I have done my job or homework in the fourth class very well. It is as simple as that. I must do my duties very well. If I have hurt my parents, I must make peace with them. Not knowing when that travel in the different world will come, I must do it now, here and now at this very moment. Make peace with them; make peace with your dear and near ones. I cannot lead a peaceful life, full of lightness and joy while at the same time carrying guilt. It will tear me apart; I will not move from one moment to the next moment in a real sense.

Of course time passes, but we will not move from one dimension to another dimension. And finally when there is a quantum leap, it cannot happen even when we have two samskaras left. Babuji Maharaj says the Central Region is very easy, but even when you have the desire to have spiritual emancipation, for example, or you have so many spiritual desires, "I want to do this, I want to change the world," then, forget the Central Region. It happens only when we are absolutely surrendered with zero desire in our heart.

In his wisdom he says "More and more of less and less." More and more of less and less of samskaras. More and more of less and less to the extent of zero burden, zero luggage with us. So how can I afford to have a little desire? And this state of desirelessness comes only when we are courageous enough to surrender to the great Master and say "Let thy will be done. Whatever you do is fine." Then we are liberated all together from everything.

We can continue doing our business, our studies, looking after the family, in the best possible way as He directs, in His remembrance. The whole life becomes such a joyful thing, because now you don't have to worry about anything. He is the one who is going to direct our lives. But we have to allow them to do it.

When we go on to travel and when we know we are not coming back, what should be our attitude? Would you think of the money that you gave to someone "Oh, when am I going to collect it from this guy, I gave him ten thousand rupees ten days back." It is gone, let it be gone. Lalaji says when you give something to somebody give as if it is not going to come back or don't think of giving.

You may be liberated for example, and say "Okay, I will not be worrying about this thing," but that poor fellow will have to worry that, "This guy is gone now, he is liberated, how am I going to return this?" That is his problem now; that is his samskara. He will have to unload it somehow, in some manner, with a prayerful heart to God: "Now the person who did this favour is no more there. How am I going to return this debt?" Only through God.

Our gratitude, our thankfulness, everything circulates through Him and Him alone. That is why we need absolute love for the one who loves all, and that is God.

In our Sahaj Marg sanstha we give so much importance to the Masters. Again the reasons are given in the same article. It is easy to surrender to such an individual. It must not be artificial. It should not be because I am incapable of living my life and say, "Okay, now you handle it." A jobless fellow will say, "Okay Master, it's your job now to feed me." That is not true surrender. This is escapism. I must do my duty fully well, absolutely well, and in everything I do I must excel. I am not trying to compete with anyone. I must excel. In everything that I did yesterday, I must be better today.

This is the demand of a spiritual path. It is not that Master wants it like that or Sahaj Marg wants it like that. If I have to go to the next step, I have to let go of the first step. The next step is already calling me. But I am so comfortable with the first step, why should I go to the next step? I am very comfortable. Then the problem starts.

Comforts, wherever we are, are a curse. They will not make us think of the next step. Most people, especially Sahaj Margis, would notice this: that in friends' circles around us, those who are not meditating have very steady lives. Have you noticed that? The couple is so happy together. At least when you observe them from a distance, they don't have much panga. They don't have to get up every Sunday morning and come and they are so peaceful. Why?

This is only apparent, and most of our people are always on the go. Every day your inner canvas keeps on changing. You are always on the go, always on a travel. Only Sahaj Margis can afford to do such a thing. And that is why we are always on the edge. Have you noticed this? Your friends are comfortably sitting without any problem. They say, "Kya ye karta hai tu, ye meditation? Live like us." Because their inner change is not there; they don't have to constantly go on adjusting themselves with their inner emotional state. While for us, at every moment our Masters keeps on working on us so that we move from one level to another level. Travel is always there.

This spiritual journey is the most important journey. If you don't love it this travel becomes torture. If you love it then you cannot live without travelling. Travel itself becomes such a joy for us. That is why Babuji Maharaj, in one of His Urdu couplets said, I will repeat it to you:

We were bewildered in search of our goal, That even when we reached the destination We were still looking for it.

They were so engrossed, absorbed in the travel, they were enjoying it so much, that even when they reached their destination they were still looking for it. Most of us are like that. We have found the path, we are enjoying it so much that even when we have reached our destination we don't know where we are. We are still looking for our Master inside our hearts.

When the heart is so convinced that you are at home, you are at home. What else are you looking for? To feel constantly that you are at home, even when you are in so many different places travelling, is a true spiritual state. Again here comes the invertendo in place. In the worldly sense you keep travelling and your home is always somewhere, say in Anantapur. But in a spiritual world, you can be travelling through so many places and you will always be at one place, in your heart. And that is a beautiful state to experience. Nothing troubles us. Whether you are in Tadipatri, or you are in Guntur, or you are in Vijayawada, or you are in New York, it is the same thing; it does not matter where you are; constantly, as Lord Krishna would put it, in a state of pragya. Travel doesn't bother you. You carry ten kilos of luggage or ten tonnes of luggage; He is carrying it, why am I worried about it?

In fact a time should come when I should be able to carry more and more tonnes of weight as per their wish. Life takes a big turn. Once we surrender, all these samskaras don't play much part in our life, as it is His headache now. So the art of living is nothing but this: how well we can get rid of samskaras with a truer understanding from the heart of the role of the Master in our lives.

I think that is all I need to share and I am happy to announce we have today five new preceptors.